Distraction
by Skipper Pompeii
Summary: When Bella comes to visit the Cullen's home for the first time, where did Rosalie go?  How does she cope with what is going on around her.


**A/N -** _While my partner in crime, Skipper, is recovering from hand surgery, I decided to write my vision of Rosalie. A special thank you to my partner for letting me post this here. And my best wishes for her speedy recovery._

**Inspiration –** _Vampirexlove's story Sanctuary and my insanely strong similarity to Rosalie's personality._

**_A thank you to my marvelous beta Storms. What would I do without you?_**

* * *

**Distraction**

_By: Pompeii_

_She's coming here! I can't believe he invited her here! To our house!_ I slammed the garage door closed behind me. After spending the last hour fighting about this, I decided I may not have been able to stop it, but I didn't have to watch it. If Edward is hell bent on destroying this family, he will have to do it on his own. I am certainly not going to go along quietly.

I stopped for a second as I caught my reflection in Carlisle's Mercedes window. Sighing I pulled a hair band out of my pocket and swept my hair back into a ponytail. _Perfection_. It drives me crazy how arrogant he is, when he walks around telling me how shallow I am all the time. Well, I'm not the one putting the entire family in danger for my own selfishly demented reasons! I glared at my reflection then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

My Beemer was parked on the other side of the garage. I smiled at her admiringly and quickly slid into the drivers seat. My hand caressed the soft smooth leather of the seat. This car was my haven. Everything about it was me. From the powerful red body to the sleek black leather interior, this was my baby. Running my hands across the steering wheel, I decided that I needed a distraction.

Leaning forward, I grasped the handle beneath the dash. _Pop_. That sound brought back so many memories. It was my thing, what I was good at. Yes, of course I was smart and beautiful. But what I could do to a car, how it obeyed my touch, was where I found my calling.

As I got out of the drivers seat and closed the door, I ran my fingers along the shiny body all the way to the hood and lifted it up. She was a beauty. Placing my hands on the grill, I leaned over to admire the engine.

"What shall we work on today?" I checked all the fluids. Oil. Perfect. Brake. Perfect. Water. Perfect. Transmission. Perfect. I lightly drummed my nails on the manifold, enjoying the feel of the steel beneath my fingers. She was in show room condition, not a trace of dirt, oil or corrosion blemished her engine.

"I think its time for a tune up." I smiled and turned to my workbench. Emmett had built it for me when we moved here. It was the best one yet. Of all the some thirty I have had over the years, this one was by far my favorite. He had worked on it all night the first weekend we moved in. I had been depressed about moving yet again. And our first week at Forks High School was miserable. Emmett decided he needed to cheer me up. He had gone out with Edward that morning and found a fully-grown Red Alder tree and together they carried it back to the house. The thing was massive! How they managed to get it home without uprooting half the forest I'll never know. But they did, and Emmett made me promise to stay away. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was doing, circular saws are not quiet things. And Emmett never made furniture for anyone but me. It was one of the things his grandfather taught him and subsequently one of his most treasured talents.

He came in the house at dawn covered with sawdust and smelling like the forest itself. I was so excited, I nearly ran out of the house to go see it. But he made me close my eyes as he led me to the garage himself for the grand unveiling.

"You can open them." He said, releasing my hand at the same time. I was speechless. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, aside from my car. The bench was made from the solid mid section of the tree and stained so that the hint of red in the wood glowed.

"Well do you like it?" He asked after I didn't say anything. But he already knew the answer, because he knew me.

"Its beautiful." I looked over at his beaming face.

"Look at this." He excitedly moved over to show me the improvements he had made over his previous models and a special embellishment he had added to the edge. I ran my fingers along the edge of the bench tracing the name he had carved into the wood in an elegant scrawl, my name over and over again. _Rosalie_.

I smiled at the memory as I traced the letters with my fingers. He was a good man. My man. I am so grateful I have him. I picked up my socket set and extension bar from my tool case and went to work on my spark plugs. Strength and speed can come in handy when working on cars, but not with spark plugs. It took careful precision to remove each plug. Too much torque and the plug will break off in the cylinder head and no one wants to see that happen. I shuddered at the memory of having to replace the motor on my first car. I was still getting used to my own strength then. But now it was all second nature.

As I finished a perfect round of removals and moved on to installing the replacements, I heard the garage door open and close. I knew immediately who it was, but didn't make any acknowledgment. In a moment, I felt his strong hands wrap around my waist as he buried his head into my neck.

"What cha doin'?" Emmett asked, playfully.

"Perfecting perfection." I replied, finishing the delicate task of installing the new plugs and reattaching the wires.

He turned me around in his arms and gave me a sweet kiss. "Lets get out of here." He said, trailing a luxurious line of kisses from my lips down my neck.

"You're not fooling me Emmett, I could smell her the second she pulled into the drive way. Not to mention hear that sorry excuse for a vehicle." I stated matter-a-factly trying not to get distracted by Emmett's movements.

"I was in no way trying to fool you, merely distract the most beautiful woman in the world in hopes that she might grace me with her company for a while." He looked into my eyes, and I was helpless to resist him.

"I love you," he said running his fingers along my jaw. "Come for a walk with me."

"I love you too, Emmett." I smiled and kissed his fingers as they neared my lips. "But this doesn't change anything."

"I know it doesn't Rose. Just let me take you away for a little while. We can talk." He had taken both my hand in his and looked pleadingly into my eyes.

"Alright, Emmett. But just for the afternoon."

He released one hand and kept hold of the other as he lead me out of the garage into the morning air. As we disappeared into the tree line I glanced once at the house as I saw Edward's bedroom light flick on. I shook my head in disapproval. _This is not going to end well_.


End file.
